It is well established that microparticles are secreted by different cell types and could be different depending on the cell type and the pathophysiological conditions of the cell or cellular microenvironment such as Alzheimer disease, TB infection, HIV infection, cancer, hypoxia, irradiation, oxidative stress, shearing stress, and exposure activated complement complexes. Microparticles are membrane vesicles. To date, there are several types of microparticles that include exosomes, ectosomes, apoptotic bodies2. These microparticles contain both proteins and RNAs. Many of these microparticles have been shown to have biological activities that enhance either biological activities or pathogenesis.
Bodily fluids such as urine, blood, tears, saliva, bronchoaveolar fluid, tumoral effusions, epididymal fluid, amniotic fluid and milk contain many membrane vesicles. As the shedding, type and biological activity of microparticles is dependent on the cell type, their physiological state and their cellular microenvironment, these microparticles are potentially a good source of diagnostic or prognostic markers. Depletion of these microparticles could also be potentially therapeutic. However, the identity and origin of many of these microparticles in bodily fluids are unknown and presumably, are also highly heterogenous.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for tools that can rapidly enrich for these microparticles and that will improve the predictability and robustness of lipid microparticle-based biomarkers or therapeutic applications.